The Obscene Ones are a class of demonic entities or obstructive forces in the Qliphoth, the adverse shell-world of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. The term derives from Latin obscenus (offensive, disgusting, ill-omened), and in this context it denotes the corrupt, lewd, and destabilizing energies that oppose the purity of the Sephirah Yesod. They are the foundation of impurity, the twisted reflection of the astral realm’s generative power.

Position on the Tree of Life

The Obscene Ones occupy the ninth step of the Qliphothic scale, corresponding to the Sephirah Yesod (Foundation). Yesod is the sphere of the astral plane, the subconscious, and the lunar gateway between the lower and higher worlds. Its Qliphothic counterpart perverts these functions: instead of a stable foundation for spiritual transmission, the Obscene Ones introduce instability, sexual distortion, and illusory fixations that trap the soul in base desires.

Astrological and planetary correspondence

Yesod is governed by the Moon, and so the Obscene Ones align with the adverse lunar current—the dark, fluctuating, and deceptive side of lunar influence. In astrological magic, they represent the seductive yet hollow glamour of the nocturnal sphere, the dreams that become nightmares, and the emotional tides that drown reason. Their planetary correspondence is the Moon in its most unstable and obscene aspect.

Historical context

The concept of the Obscene Ones appears in the Kabbalistic tradition of the Qliphoth ("shells" or "husks"), first systematically described in the Zohar and later expanded by Renaissance and modern occultists. In the Zoharic cosmology, the Qliphoth are the remnants of previous creations that failed, or the impure dregs that cling to the Sephiroth. The Obscene Ones are specifically the Qliphoth of Yesod, associated with the demonic order known as Gamaliel ("the Obscene Ones" or "the Polluted") in some lists—though Crowley’s Liber 777 uses the English name directly.

In the Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, similar entities appear as the infernal princes of the lunar sphere. Later, in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and Aleister Crowley’s writings, the Obscene Ones are cataloged as part of the "Evil Triad" of the Qliphoth, representing the perversion of the procreative and foundational forces. They are invoked in certain rites of the Left-Hand Path to break down false purity, but are considered dangerous to the unprepared, as they amplify obsession and moral decay.

In Liber 777

In the table of correspondences, the Obscene Ones appear at the ninth step (Yesod) of Column VIII, which lists the English names of the Qliphothic forces. They are the direct counterpart to the Sephirah Yesod’s angelic order (the Cherubim) and its divine name (Shaddai El Chai). Their presence in the column underscores the symmetrical inversion of the Tree: where Yesod gives stable form to the astral light, the Obscene Ones give form to the dregs of that light—the obscene, the grotesque, and the foundation of spiritual decay.